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Romantic Fantasy

Embrace of the Shade: Part 1 of The Berylian Key Trilogy (Pantracia Chronicles) by Amanda Muratoff (Author), Kayla Mansur (Author)

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Unfathomable power consumes morality, fanning the flames of destruction. Within the embers, a tainted soul can be reforged into a hero.

Hunting a Berylian Key shard, Kin enters the Great Library of Capul intent on stealing a rare text that could aid him in his task. Bound to his duty by blood, failure poses a greater threat than any prison. When Kin crosses paths with an alluring thief, he sees an opportunity to benefit off her, even if his proximity could put her life at risk.

Amarie disregards caution and partners with Kin without realizing he seeks the same shard she does. After a daring escape, sparks ignite and jeopardize her resolve. Desires of the heart clash with logic, creating a storm with nowhere to go but disaster.

A war rages between secrets with shadows poised to strike. Darkness could swallow Kin before Amarie has a chance to pull him from its depths.

Embrace of the Shade is Part 1 of The Berylian Key Trilogy, and Book 1 in the Pantracia Chronicles.

“Embrace of the Shade is a romantic work of fantasy fiction penned by co-author team of Amanda Muratoff and Kayla Mansur. Written for adults due to its explicit mature content, this novel forms the first book in the Berylian Key Trilogy as part of the wider Pantracia Chronicles series. In a story of the spark of passion between two thieves contending for the same prize, we meet Kin and Amarie when they both seek the Berylian Key shard. As the fates of the thieves collide on their adventurous quest for personal glory, their mutual attraction throws them off focus and threatens to change everything they know about their way of life so far.

The resistant emotions of two very individual romantic leads make for some fantastic reading as romance looms and sizzles on every page. Author duo Amanda Muratoff and Kayla Mansur do a fantastic job with the intense backstories of both Kin and Amarie, gently letting their vulnerabilities show as readers warm to their thieving ways and become deeply attached to their relationship. The adult content is well delivered and never over the top, with great atmospheric moments and a solid adventure plot that underpins and heightens the romantic elements of the tale. Although this is certainly a high-quality romance novel first and foremost, the fantasy elements are well considered and appropriately developed to give the story a fully rounded feel. Overall, Embrace of the Shade marks a powerful opening to a series that romance and fantasy fans are certain to fall in love with.” -K.C. Finn for Readers’ Favorite ★★★★★

“Evocatively written, Embrace of the Shade is an extraordinarily strong intro to a new romantic fantasy series. The pull of the characters towards each other draws the reader into their lives with a similar intensity, with their secrets building suspense throughout. This is a novel where the authors have clearly put a lot of care into each element of the story’s creation. The characters, the world, and the magic are all thoroughly well-constructed, making Embrace of the Shade a classic fantasy story that will please devoted readers of fantasy, as well as romance.” Self-Publishing Review, ★★★★★

Horror Western

Cruel Summer by Wesley Southard

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Melissa Braun is a broken woman. Only wanting what’s best for her family, she’s willing to do whatever it takes to mend her fractured relationship with her abusive boyfriend. In a last ditch effort, she hopes the sun and sand of a much-needed Florida vacation will bring them and her son closer together.

Patrick Braun is a demoralized kid. Quiet and sullen, he only wants his mother to see her boyfriend’s torment as it cripples everything he loves. After years of silence, he refuses to stand by and let the abuse continue to tear them apart.

Hoyt Rainey is a vile man. Unable to keep his hands to himself, he finally takes his anger one step too far. Only this time he finds himself on the receiving end of his own punishment. Down and down he goes, plunging deeper into the dark blue abyss of the sea.

Melissa and Patrick finally believe they are safe, the trouble now behind them for good. They are wrong.

Gods never really stay dead―they only lie in wait. And when a beast as old as time discovers Hoyt…he, too, won’t stay gone for long.

The nights grow darker, the water flows colder, and the cruelty of summer lives on.

Historical Fantasy

The Queen of Paris: A Novel of Coco Chanel Hardcover – April 7, 2020 by Pamela Binnings Ewen

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Legendary fashion designer Coco Chanel is revered for her sophisticated style — the iconic little black dress — and famed for her intoxicating perfume Chanel No. 5. Yet behind the public persona is a complicated woman of intrigue, shadowed by mysterious rumors. The Queen of Paris, the new novel from award-winning author Pamela Binnings Ewen, vividly imagines the hidden life of Chanel during the four years of Nazi occupation in Paris in the midst of WWII — as discovered in recently unearthed wartime files.

Coco Chanel could be cheerful, lighthearted, and generous; she also could be ruthless, manipulative, even cruel. Against the winds of war, with the Wehrmacht marching down the Champs-Élysées, Chanel finds herself residing alongside the Reich’s High Command in the Hotel Ritz. Surrounded by the enemy, Chanel wages a private war of her own to wrestle full control of her perfume company from the hands of her Jewish business partner, Pierre Wertheimer. With anti-Semitism on the rise, he has escaped to the United States with the confidential formula for Chanel No. 5. Distrustful of his intentions to set up production on the outskirts of New York City, Chanel fights to seize ownership. The House of Chanel shall not fall.

While Chanel struggles to keep her livelihood intact, Paris sinks under the iron fist of German rule. Chanel — a woman made of sparkling granite — will do anything to survive. She will even agree to collaborate with the Nazis in order to protect her darkest secrets. When she is covertly recruited by Germany to spy for the Reich, she becomes Agent F-7124, code name: Westminster. But why? And to what lengths will she go to keep her stormy past from haunting her future?

Historical Fantasy

The Chanel Sisters: A Novel Hardcover – December 29, 2020 by Judithe Little

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A novel of survival, love, loss, triumph—and the sisters who changed fashion forever

Antoinette and Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel know they’re destined for something better. Abandoned by their family at a young age, they’ve grown up under the guidance of nuns preparing them for simple lives as the wives of tradesmen or shopkeepers. At night, their secret stash of romantic novels and magazine cutouts beneath the floorboards are all they have to keep their dreams of the future alive.

The walls of the convent can’t shield them forever, and when they’re finally of age, the Chanel sisters set out together with a fierce determination to prove themselves worthy to a society that has never accepted them. Their journey propels them out of poverty and to the stylish cafés of Moulins, the dazzling performance halls of Vichy—and to a small hat shop on the rue Cambon in Paris, where a boutique business takes hold and expands to the glamorous French resort towns.

But the sisters’ lives are again thrown into turmoil when World War I breaks out, forcing them to make irrevocable choices, and they’ll have to gather the courage to fashion their own places in the world, even if apart from each other.

“The Chanel Sisters explores with care the timeless need for belonging, purpose, and love, and the heart’s relentless pursuit of these despite daunting odds. Beautifully told to the last page.” —Susan Meissner, bestselling author of The Last Year of the War

Horror Western

The Night Silver River Run Red (Splatter Western Book 4) by Christine Morgan

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Some things, according to Cody McCall, are worth risking a whipping. Such as, sneaking out with your friends after dark for a peek at the traveling show setting up just outside of town. Oddities, the signs promise. Marvels. Grotesqueries. Exotic attractions and mysterious magics.

Not as if they’d be allowed to attend otherwise, not with parents and preacher and schoolmarm all disapproving. But how often does a chance like this come along? There isn’t much else by way of excitement in quiet, peaceful Silver River, a once-prosperous boom town slowly gone bust.

Worth risking a whipping, sure. Worth risking life and limb, and maybe more? Worth risking being ripped to pieces by ravenous, inhuman brutes? Worth crossing paths with those strange, silent cult-folk from the high valley? Worth all the fire and bloodshed and horror and death?

Because something far worse than any ordinary traveling show has come to town, and one thing is for certain: those who survive, if any, will never forget the night Silver River run red.

(All Splatter Western books are stand-alone stories. Read them in whatever order you please!)

Sci-fi Fantasy

Edge of Eon (Eon Warriors Book 1)by Anna Hackett

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Framed for a crime she didn’t commit, a wrongly-imprisoned space captain’s only chance at freedom is to abduct a fearsome alien war commander.

Sub-Captain Eve Traynor knows a suicide mission when she sees one. With deadly insectoid aliens threatening to invade Earth, the planet’s only chance of survival is to get the attention of the fierce Eon Warriors. But the Eon want nothing to do with Earth, and Eve wants nothing to do with abducting War Commander Davion Thann-Eon off his warship. But when Earth’s Space Corps threaten her sisters, Eve will do anything to keep them safe, even if it means she might not make it back.

War Commander Davion Thann-Eon is taking his first vacation in years. Dedicated to keeping the Eon Empire safe, he’s been born and bred to protect. But when he’s attacked and snatched off his very own warship, he is shocked to find himself face-to-face with a bold, tough little Terran warrior. One who both infuriates and intrigues him.

When their shuttle is attacked by the ravenous insectoid Kantos, Eve and Davion crash land on the terrifying hunter planet known as Hunter7. A planet designed to test a warrior to his limits. Now, the pair must work together to survive, caught between the planet and its dangers, the Kantos hunting them down, and their own incendiary attraction.

**Each book in this action-packed science fiction romance series can be read as a standalone.

Urban Fantasy

Bloody Hell: A Dark Urban Fantasy Story (The Legacy of a Vampire Witch Book 1) by Theophilus Monroe

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They tried to cut out my heart. But before I was a vampire, I was a witch. They couldn’t get rid of me that easily.

My name’s Mercy Brown-but don’t let my name fool you. I’m merciless.

It had been almost a century and a half since I last encountered anyone from the Order of the Morning Dawn. They were religious fundamentalists with the dual goal of eliminating vampires and witches.

Being both a vampire and a witch I was the embodiment of everything the Order hates. Their first attempt to eliminate me failed. Thanks to the fact that my mentor in the Craft was also a necromancer.

When they burned my heart they didn’t kill me. They unwittingly completed a spell that tied my existence to the soul of one who took my place in hell.

Now I’m heartless, literally.

Not having a heart has some advantages. It means I’m pretty resilient, especially when it comes to wooden stakes.

So long as the soul bound to my existence remained in hell, I was virtually invincible.

But the Order figured it out. They hope to redeem the soul who was damned in my stead. If they do that, I’ll meet the true death for sure.  I have to capture the one damned in my place before the Order manages to liberate him from perdition. If they free him, I will die.

I have to go to bloody hell.

Horror Western

Pandemonium by Ryan Harding (Author), Lucas Mangum

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From Ryan Harding (author of Genital Grinder) and Lucas Mangum (author of Saint Sadist) comes quite possibly the bloodiest novel ever written:

PANDEMONIUM

A stranger in a mask walks through Philadelphia, handing out tickets to an underground wrestling show promising a level of violence unlike anything fans have seen before. The card features a mix of legends and hot up-and-comers. Most intriguing, it will mark the debut of the enigmatic, hammer-wielding Crimson Executioner, a monster of a man whose promo videos look like something out of Saw or Hostel.

The crowd enters past masked guards who don’t speak. Even the talent doesn’t know who funded the show or why; they’re happy just so long as the checks clear. None of them know the diabolical plot behind it all. When the Executioner murders his opponent in the ring, it soon becomes clear the show is a ritual to open the gates of Hell and unleash PANDEMONIUM.

Demons rise throughout the venue, using the bodies of the dead as vessels to wreak all manner of brutal carnage. Audience members and performers alike must now fight for survival as the contagion spreads all around them, inside the arena and out into the city.

In the tradition of Dario Argento’s Demons franchise and set in the world of hardcore wrestling, PANDEMONIUM is a hyper-violent tale of demonic possession, ancient evil gods, and bleeding the hard way.

Contemporary Fantasy

The Book of Two Ways: A Novel Hardcover – September 22, 2020 by Jodi Picoult

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#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the author of Small Great Things and A Spark of Lightcomes a “powerful” (The Washington Post) novel about the choices that alter the course of our lives. 

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY MARIE CLAIRE

Everything changes in a single moment for Dawn Edelstein. She’s on a plane when the flight attendant makes an announcement: Prepare for a crash landing. She braces herself as thoughts flash through her mind. The shocking thing is, the thoughts are not of her husband but of a man she last saw fifteen years ago: Wyatt Armstrong.

Dawn, miraculously, survives the crash, but so do all the doubts that have suddenly been raised. She has led a good life. Back in Boston, there is her husband, Brian, their beloved daughter, and her work as a death doula, in which she helps ease the transition between life and death for her clients.

But somewhere in Egypt is Wyatt Armstrong, who works as an archaeologist unearthing ancient burial sites, a career Dawn once studied for but was forced to abandon when life suddenly intervened. And now, when it seems that fate is offering her second chances, she is not as sure of the choice she once made.

After the crash landing, the airline ensures that the survivors are seen by a doctor, then offers transportation to wherever they want to go. The obvious destination is to fly home, but she could take another path: return to the archaeological site she left years before, reconnect with Wyatt and their unresolved history, and maybe even complete her research on The Book of Two Ways—the first known map of the afterlife.

As the story unfolds, Dawn’s two possible futures unspool side by side, as do the secrets and doubts long buried with them. Dawn must confront the questions she’s never truly asked: What does a life well lived look like? When we leave this earth, what do we leave behind? Do we make choices . . . or do our choices make us? And who would you be if you hadn’t turned out to be the person you are right now?

Contemporary Fantasy

The Return Hardcover – September 29, 2020 by Nicholas Sparks

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In the romantic tradition of Dear John, Nicholas Sparks returns with the story of an injured Navy doctor — and two women whose secrets will change the course of his life in this #1 New York Times bestseller.

Trevor Benson never intended to move back to New Bern, North Carolina. But when a mortar blast outside the hospital where he worked sent him home from Afghanistan with devastating injuries, the dilapidated cabin he’d inherited from his grandfather seemed as good a place to regroup as any.

Tending to his grandfather’s beloved beehives, Trevor isn’t prepared to fall in love with a local . . . yet, from their very first encounter, Trevor feels a connection with deputy sheriff Natalie Masterson that he can’t ignore. But even as she seems to reciprocate his feelings, she remains frustratingly distant, making Trevor wonder what she’s hiding.

Further complicating his stay in New Bern is the presence of a sullen teenage girl, Callie, who lives in the trailer park down the road. Trevor hopes Callie can shed light on the mysterious circumstances of his grandfather’s death, but she offers few clues — until a crisis triggers a race to uncover the true nature of Callie’s past, one more intertwined with the elderly man’s passing than Trevor could ever have imagined.

In his quest to unravel Natalie and Callie’s secrets, Trevor will learn the true meaning of love and forgiveness . . . and that in life, to move forward, we must often return to the place where it all began.